HORSHAM, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Acurian Inc., the leading full-service provider of global patient enrollment and retention solutions and a subsidiary of Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC (PPD), announced today that Tom Privette, Ph.D., has joined the company as vice president and head of global business development. In this role, Privette will lead the commercial efforts of Acurian’s sales organization worldwide.

“Tom brings more than 20 years of extensive experience in pharmaceutical and biotech management as well as clinical research and development,” said Roger Smith, Acurian’s senior vice president and general manager. “His operational and strategic background will help drive our next stage of sales growth and global business expansion, particularly as we continue to deliver a wide range of patient-centric enrollment solutions that help trial sponsors achieve budget, time and quality certainty without having to over-hire research sites simply for access to patients.”

Privette was previously vice president and head of global business development for Syngene International, the largest global contract research and manufacturing organization based in India. He also has held senior business development and clinical research positions with another global contract research organization and pharmaceutical companies including Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and GlaxoSmithKline.

Privette earned his Ph.D. in cell biology/neuroscience from East Carolina University and bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

About Acurian

Acurian, a subsidiary of PPD, is the leading full-service provider of clinical trial patient enrollment and retention solutions for the life sciences industry. The company increases the enrollment performance of investigator sites worldwide by identifying, contacting, prescreening and referring people who live in the local community but are unknown to a research site. As a result, trial sponsors complete enrollment without incurring the unexpected expense of adding sites or time. Learn more at www.acurian.com.

About PPD

PPD is a leading global contract research organization providing comprehensive, integrated drug development, laboratory and lifecycle management services. Our clients and partners include pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, academic and government organizations. With offices in 47 countries and more than 19,000 professionals worldwide, PPD applies innovative technologies, therapeutic expertise and a firm commitment to quality to help clients and partners bend the cost and time curve of drug development to deliver life-changing therapies that improve health. For more information, visit www.ppdi.com.